Roles of the HOXA10 gene during castrate-resistant prostate cancer progression

Homeobox A10 (HOXA10) is an important transcription factor that regulates the development of the prostate gland. However, it remains unknown whether it modulates prostate cancer (PCa) progression into castrate-resistant stages. In this study, we have applied RNA in situ hybridization assays to demonstrate that downregulation of HOXA10 expression is associated with castrate-resistant PCa. These findings are supported by public RNA-seq data showing that reduced HOXA10 expression is correlated with poor patient survival. We show that HOXA10 suppresses PCa cell proliferation, anchorage colony formation and xenograft growth independent to androgens. Using AmpliSeq transcriptome sequencing, we have found that gene groups associated with lipid metabolism and androgen receptor (AR) signaling are enriched in the HOXA10 transcriptome. Furthermore, we demonstrate that HOXA10 suppresses the transcription of the fatty acid synthase (FASN) gene by forming a protein complex with AR and prevents AR recruitment to the FASN gene promoter. These results lead us to conclude that downregulation of HOXA10 gene expression may enhance lipogenesis to promote PCa cell growth and tumor progression to castrate-resistant stage.